The singer, who had largely kept his distance from political issues, shocked fans in the summer of 2015 when he recorded a video onboard an Iranian warship with a group of servicemen marching behind him:

The music video clip, titled Nuclear Energy, features English-language posters such as Peaceful Nuclear Energy For Everyone, Has Iran Ever Invaded a Country? and Don’t Let the Media Fool You.

"This is our absolute right -- to have an armed Persian Gulf,” Tataloo sings in Farsi in the video, which was released with English subtitles.

The clip was released the day before a landmark agreement promising Iran relief from international sanctions in exchange for curbs to its nuclear program was finalized on July 14, 2015.. The video was widely seen as an effort by the Iranian establishment to use the rapper to get its message out to young people.

On social media, Tataloo has also praised the supreme leader and voiced support for the Islamic hijab for women.

“This kid is innocent. He hasn’t taught us corruption and immorality. He has actually taught us to respect senior leaders of the country, such as yourself,” an Instagram user pleaded with Khamenei.

Despite the pro-regime music video and comments, however, Tataloo has never been granted an official license to perform.

Iranian Twitter user @aalpaaydin sarcastically wrote that “the first time when he was arrested he sang the Nuclear Energy, the second time around he’ll become a reciter of the Koran when he’s freed.”

Twitter user @_mrdeer said: “I realized from the Free Tataloo hashtag that the future of the trees in our garden seems to be dark.”